David Harrington-Not the Usual Challenger

Consider the case of the City of Camarillo, which is governed by an at-large city council of five members. The five council members currently share between them 88 years of incumbency, with one member serving since 1980, so into their fourth decade. This gives one an idea of the hammerlock that incumbents generally hold on offices in municipal elections for a whole slew of reasons, which makes the case of Aliso Viejo so interesting.

Aliso Viejo, in its (relatively) short history as a City, has thrown out not one, but two incumbent council members. Something nearly unheard of, and perhaps Sheriff’s Sgt. David Harrington (Ret) can unseat a third incumbent come November.

After an extensive phone conversation with Sgt. Harrington this past Saturday (September 6) I can say that he does not fit the mold of the usual challenger that I have run across in my nearly twenty year hobby of following local elections. To wit, the general incumbent challenger cannot specifically articulate why they want to unseat an incumbent other than vague references to “new blood.” They also generally do not possess the volunteer or monetary base necessary to walk precincts and send targeted mailers so necessary to create the name recognition needed to win local elections. Sgt. Harrington does not fit that mold.

First, Sgt. Harrington articulates some very specific grievances against the current incumbents. First, he feels that the incumbents, specifically Dr. Carmen Cave, treat constituents with disdain. He uses as an example the recent failed Art Tax that Dr. Cave still wanted to push after a large amount of residents and businesses expressed their opposition. On the demeanor front, I have observed Dr. Cave personally and I cannot disagree with Sgt. Harrington’s assessment.

Second, he believes the incumbents are not practicing fiscal rectitude. He uses as an example the Aquatic and Convention Center built at substantial cost and enduring operating losses, and the proposed Community Center that could also face annual operating deficits. All good points in a time of austerity.

Finally, he alleges that Phil Tsunoda MAY have obtained a resident email list from a City Contractor to improperly use in his campaign. (Ironically, no one is generally more pro-incumbent than City Staff or contractors, and these things are usually done willingly.)

On the second aspect of the campaign, Sgt. Harrington appears to have put together an actual robust campaign that certainly has a better chance of succeeding than the generally lackluster campaigns of challengers.

Base on prior results from 2010 Sgt. Harrington certainly has his work cut out for him. In that at large race as many as 80% of the people casting ballots voted for Mr. Tsunoda and 68% voted for Dr. Cave. This is not usual since in at large races the “winners” generally get over the hump with about 45 to 48% of the voters casting ballots for them; another inherent advantage of incumbency.

Be that as it may after our discussions Sgt. Harrington will have at least one vote (mine) and he promises to have volunteers drop by our home to convince my Nebraska bride, so he may have at least two of the approximately 4,000 votes he will need to eject an incumbent in this projected low turnout election.